


A Deep, but Temporary Sleep

by sadistically_sweet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Play, Daddy Kink, Diapers, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Good Severus Snape, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pet Names, Severus Snape Lives, Soft Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:29:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28852836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadistically_sweet/pseuds/sadistically_sweet
Summary: Magic can make things a lot easier, but 'easier' doesn't always equal 'better'.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Severus Snape
Comments: 12
Kudos: 221





	A Deep, but Temporary Sleep

Severus had always figured himself a sufferer of chronic insomnia. He’d always had a hard time falling asleep, even as a child…and when he eventually did, it was harder still to stay asleep, so not long after he started school he came to rely on different potions and charms (and a little bit of hope) to sort itself out. Either he’d take a potion or, failing at that, perform a restorative charm that would temporarily make him feel as if he’d gotten a full eight hours instead of the constant tossing and turning. 

He suffered for it, well into the later stages of his life. Then, he and Harry became…’involved’, and Harry began spending the night in Severus’s bed. 

And Severus soon came to realize…he didn’t have trouble sleeping. 

He had trouble sleeping _alone_. 

After Harry moved in, no more were the long, sleepless nights. No more lying awake for hours, his thoughts never stopping, no more listening to the slight ringing in his ears in the sinister darkness that seemed to press down on him in its almost physical presence. There was only Harry’s weight pressed against his side, his warmth, his whispers in the dark and his shallow breathing (and the occasional grinding of his teeth) when he finally drifted to sleep. 

Not to say that Harry hadn’t kept him up a night or two. Per week. And sometimes during the day. But that’s not the point. 

The point being, is that when Severus woke up on this particularly cold winter’s night, well past midnight, he immediately knew why and was very unhappy about it. 

He still swept an arm out behind him, just in case…but only found cold, empty sheets in Harry’s place. Damn. 

Well. No use lying there, trying to fall back to sleep. Not now. 

So, Severus got up, wrapped himself in his dressing gown and slippers, and went to go find his wayward other half. 

It didn’t take long to find him. Severus could already see the light from the kitchen in the hallway and that was where he found Harry, staring out the window above the sink, a steaming mug of tea in hand. 

Harry looked up as Severus shuffled into the kitchen, and smiled as Severus came up behind him and enveloped him in his very plush, warm, fleece-lined robe. An early birthday present, as Harry was terrible at keeping secrets…or, at least, terrible at having the patience to keep presents a secret. 

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Harry asked, sinking in as the elder wizard pressed flush against his back. 

“Mm, no,” Severus lied. “You couldn’t sleep?” he asked, nuzzling into Harry’s hair, and hoped that both would suffice in changing the subject. 

Harry sighed at the touch; “Nah. Brain wouldn’t shut up.” 

“That’s a first…”

“Shut _up_ ,” Harry scoffed as he swung his elbow back–gently, of course– and nudged Severus in the gut, knocking a huff of air out of him as he chuckled. “You know what I meant, you sour old git.” 

Snape continued to chuckle, and kissed the tip of Harry’s ear in apology. “Care to elaborate?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist as the younger wizard closed his eyes and drew in a slow, deep breath. 

“Same old self-deprecating shit,” Harry said. “Replaying old arguments, thinking of comebacks to things that were said 20, 30 years ago.” He set his mug down on the counter, and laid his arms over Severus’s. “And now half those people are either dead or so far from who they used to be that I wouldn’t even know them anymore.” 

“Mm,” Severus hummed…he could sympathise, having done the same thing for most of his life before the potions kicked in and everything went blank until morning. “I know that feeling all too well,” he said, brushing his thumb along Harry’s hipbone after tucking it into the waistband of his pajamas; “I have a bottle of Sleeping Draught in the bedroom, if you would like.” 

Harry’s forehead wrinkled as he considered Severus’s offer. “Ah, no,” he said at last. “Not a potion.”

“Why not?”

“Feels…I dunno, feels ‘cheatsy’, somehow.”

It was Severus’s turn to frown. “…'Cheatsy’?” he repeated, sounding as if it had left the taste of worn socks on his tongue. “ _Cheatsy_? What is that even supposed to mean, Harry?”

“Okay, so, in the way someone’ll go and get really pissed, or down pills just to get numb and pass out? I don’t wanna become dependent like that.”

While Harry was faced away from him, Severus rolled his eyes…Merlin, after all this time, and the child _still_ didn’t grasp the concept of potions. “Two _entirely_ different things, love,” he drawled. 

“Eh, still. I need to get used to sleeping without that kind of aid.”

‘ _Ha_ ’, Severus thought dryly. If he only knew that half of it. 

“No sleeping aids then, hm?” He fought to keep a straight face, lest Harry see his reflection in the window; “So, when should we do away with all of the stuffed animals in the nursery?” 

Harry whirled around with an affronted gasp, hair flopping over his wide eyes, and Severus had to literally bite the corners of his mouth to keep from laughing and ruining the joke all too soon! 

Harry gaped at him, his mouth flopping like a fish as he struggled for…for words, any kind of words! “You, _what-?!_ NO! No, we’re not getting rid of those!” Harry stammered, his eyes flashing angrily behind his glasses as he blinked at Severus. “Those are _mine_ , Daddy!” 

Ah, there it is! No matter how long it had been since they’d introduced this new…dynamic, to their relationship, it always gave Severus’s heart a pang when Harry called him that. 

A good pang, to clarify. Most times in his heart, and other times…elsewhere, but always a good pang. 

Severus, thankfully, had decades of experience keeping his expression mostly collected. “Oh?” he said, with a slight raise of his brow, as if surprised. “But, I thought you didn’t want help sleeping??”

“Two _entirely_ different things!” Harry spat back and stomped his foot, missing Severus’s by mere centimeters and making him that maybe, just maybe, it was time to let this particular joke come to an end. “Are they?” he asked, letting his lips curl into a smile as he softly kissed the tip of a very angry Harry’s nose; “Maybe your plushes are your potion.”

“Ye’h!” Harry huffed as he continued to pout up at Severus. “ _My_ po’shuns!”

“Mm. And you’re mine, so go fetch one one and bring it to the big bed so we can all get back to sleep,” the older wizard said as he brushed back the hair that had fallen over his little fawn’s forehead. 

Harry blinked at the touch, as he processed what Severus had said…and almost immediately, his face softened. “…I c’n bring my fr’ens in the big bed?” 

“One,” Severus replied. “One friend. And bring Daddy a nappy while you’re at it,” he added as he unwound Harry from the depths of his robe (and his arms), and swatted his unprotected backside with a smart pop. “Go on!”

Harry giggled as he darted away, reaching back to cover himself from any more ‘words of encouragement’ as he headed down the hall and disappeared into the nursery. 

Severus waited until he was out of sight, then took up the lukewarm remnants of Harry’s forgotten tea for himself in one big swallow…and almost immediately, his face twisted in disgust as he quickly retched and spat the layer of thick, sludgy sugar that had been hiding in the bottom of the mug into the thankfully-nearby sink. 

‘ _Merlin’s Beard!_ ’ he thought as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve; he was going to have to hide the sugar from that child! No wonder he was waking up at all hours of the night, if that’s what he was calling _tea_. Christ. 

Behind him, Severus could hear the patter of bare feet running down the hall to his bedroom…more than once. So, after rinsing the rest of the syrupy mess (as well as his mouth) down the sink and leaving the mug to be dealt with in the morning, he tuned off the light and went to go see what his little fawn was up to. As if he didn’t already have a guess. 

“…I said ‘one friend’, Harry James.”

Harry, who was arranging a small pile of his stuffed animals on his side of the bed, peeked over his shoulder at his Daddy; “But…but, I couldn’t only pick one,” he pouted sadly. 

Severus walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, next to Harry. “What about…Nee’ra?” he asked, and picked up a small, snow-white owl. “Isn’t she your favorite?”

Harry gasped and quickly covered the ears on his Troll Twins, Grave and Brave. “ _Shhh_ , nobody else knows that!” he whispered fiercely. “That would hurt their feelings!” Harry plucked the tiny owl from Severus’s hands and gently tucked her back in between a pink piglet (named ‘Piglet’, apparently, but Severus had never seen a piglet that looked like…that), and a rather large, royal blue hippogriff with gold-lined feathers, named Reginald.

Severus sighed. He really should be sticking to his guns–after all, he did _clearly_ say ‘one friend’–but…Harry asked for so little. “Harry…”

“Plea’sh, dadd’ee?” Harry turned those big, doe-eyes onto Severus, and hobbled over to him on his knees. “Plea’sh?” he asked again, as he wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled his cheek against his shoulder. “Jus’ one nigh’d? Jus’ one? Plea’sh??”

“Oh, God,” Severus groaned; “You, _manipulative_ little–”

“Pleeeea’sh?” Harry cooed, and placed a soft kiss on the tip of Severus’s ear. “Da’da? _Plea’sh_?”

Fuck. The little bastard _knew_ how to hit his soft spots…and that being tiny was the best way to do it. “FINE,” Severus said over Harry’s delighted squeak, sounding exasperated. “ONE night, and then they all go back to the nursery in. the. morning,” he said pointedly. “Now, where’s your nappy…?”

***

Shortly thereafter, everyone was finally in bed, tucked in all nice and sound (and in one case, snugly padded)…’everyone’, of course, being Severus, Harry, and all thirteen of his stuffed animals that usually took up residence in the nursery.

Harry, looking awfully pleased with himself, was snuggled in at Severus’s side, with little Nee’ra tucked in his night shirt so she wouldn’t get lost amongst the big beds’ sheets and blankets. 

With a kiss to his forehead, Severus had just taken off Harry’s glasses and was putting them on the bedside table, when his little one called for his attention. “Dadd’ee?” he asked quietly, and Severus looked down to see those big, not-at-all-tired eyes gazing up at him curiously through the dark.

He put the glasses aside, and wriggled down in bed until they were side by side. “What, darling?” he asked, and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arm around Harry.

“…I’m you po’shun?” Harry asked, laying his head on his Daddy’s chest. 

Severus cracked an eye open…this was a new sort of question, and frankly, he was as curious as Harry was about what he meant? “Hm?”

Harry tilted his head and propped his chin up. “Wha’s tha’d mean?” he asked, peering up at the older wizard. “I’m you po’shun?”

Ah, so he _had_ caught that. Severus chuckled quietly…he really should give his little one more credit for being a terribly observant little thing at times. “It means that I sleep better when you’re here,” he said, stroking the tip of his finger down the bridge of Harry’s nose, making him blink. 

“Awww…I’m you po’shun!” he said with a happy wiggle; that made him very ‘pordant, being his Daddy’s po’shun! But, wait a minute…”I’sh th’ad why you w’oge u’b??”

“Perhaps.” Severus closed his eyes again. “But you’re here now, and you’re working very well,” he said with a heavy, but contented sigh. “So close. your. eyes, or I’ll stuff you in one of the cauldrons.”

Harry giggled at the thought! “Nuh-uhhh,” he said, wriggling closer. “No’d d’is po’shun!”

“Maybe this potion needs to be stirred with the wooden spoon,” Severus drawled, eyes still closed; “…Vigorously.”

Harry buried his face in Severus’s side as he snickered…Daddy could be quite hilarious at time. 

“Harry James,” Severus warned; “Hush.”

“O’gay, o’gay!” Harry stretched and pecked Severus on the chin. “Ni-ni, Dadd’ee.”

“Night-night, little potion,” Severus said, even as his breathing already began to slow. 

Soon…much sooner than with any draught or charm he had ever tried in his life…Severus had drifted back into a smooth, untroubled sleep, accompanied by a full baker’s dozen of glassy-eyed bedfellows, and one tiny potion.


End file.
